<aside> 📋 Papa a la Huancaina Recipe

Papa a la Huancaina is a Peruvian appetizer from the region of Huancayo. The creamy spicy sauce is poured over cold slices of potato, a bed of lettuce and garnished with black Peruvian olives and boiled egg.

4 servings • Prep time: 15 minutes • Cook time: 20 minutes • Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• [ ] 2 whole ají amarillo chiles or 1 tablespoon ají amarillo paste
• [ ] Olive oil
• [ ] 1/4 yellow or white onion (roughly chopped)
• [ ] 2 garlic cloves (peeled and smashed)
• [ ] Kosher salt
• [ ] 12 ounces queso fresco (cut into cubes)
• [ ] 1 (5-ounce can) evaporated milk
• [ ] Pinch ground turmeric ((optional))
• [ ] 4 to 5 saltine crackers
• [ ] 4 to 5 leaves iceberg lettuce or butter lettuce (for plating)
• [ ] 5 boiled and peeled russet or yellow potatoes (cooled and peeled )
• [ ] 1 large boiled egg (quartered)
• [ ] 3 to 4 pitted Peruvian black olives or kalamata olives </aside>

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Papa a la Huancaina is a Peruvian appetizer from the region of Huancayo. The creamy spicy sauce is poured over cold slices of potato, a bed of lettuce and garnished with black Peruvian olives and boiled egg.

overhead shot of papa a la huancaina on plate

Table of Contents

• Where is Papa a la Huancaina from?
• What does Papa a la Huancaina consist of?
• How to Make Papa a la Huancaina

Welcome to my favorite childhood meal. As a kid, I remember my mother making this sauce and me sneaking cubes of queso fresco. It was served so regularly in our house, alongside Lomo Saltado, Tallarines Verdes, Ají de Gallina and my favorite all-time beverage, Chicha Morada.

Where is Papa a la Huancaina from?

This Peruvian cold appetizer originated from Huancayo, Peru; the place where my great grandmother and grandmother were born. Huancayo is a city high in the Andes, the place where the indigenous population, the Incas, live.

And while this dish is from Huancayo, papa a la huancaina is made and eaten all throughout Peru. And every city, town, village has their own tweaks and additions to it. This version is what is very typical of what you would see and be served in Lima, Peru.

Peru is known for its sauces. My homemade ají verde sauce is another Peruvian favorite.

What does Papa a la Huancaina consist of?

1. Boiled and then chilled potatoes. Peru is a very rich in its varieties of different potatoes.
2. A few layers of lettuce. Typically you’ll see the potatoes fanned out onto a bed of iceberg lettuce. I often times like to use red leaf lettuce to be a bit fancier.
3. Huancaina sauce. This yellow sauce makes the entire dish. It’s a spicy, creamy sauce that has aji amarillo in it, queso blanco/fresco, oil, saltine crackers (yes, that’s right!) and evaporated milk.
4. Black olives. This briny garnish adds a nice bite/acid to an otherwise creamy dish. I like to use Peruvian black olives which tend to be larger than a kalamata olive but I say use what you can find!